The invention relates to a device for cutting up a commodity to be cut up, in particular for the meat-processing industry, comprising two cutting sets which in each case consist of a perforated plate and a cutting head rotating in front of said perforated plate and having cutting blades, and have an adjustable gap between the respective perforated plate and the cutting blades of the cutting head, the perforated plates being held against stops inside a common regulating body, which is mounted so as to be axially adjustable relative to the fixed cutting heads and adjusts the perforated plates together in their distance from the associated cutting head.
DE 17 57 274 A discloses a machine for cutting up meat, having a screen body and rotating cutting blades which can be pressed against it by centrifugal force. When the machine is stopped, the blades are lifted from the perforated plate. However, if a shaft for the blade is driven, the blades are pressed against the perforated plate via the centrifugal governor. It is therefore possible to regulate the contact pressure of the blades on the perforated plate by selecting the rotary speed.
Furthermore, CH 489 279 A discloses a cutting-up machine for meat in which three perforated disks are arranged at a distance from one another in a cylindrical housing, the holes of these perforated disks having diameters decreasing with increasing number in the conveying direction of the commodity to be cut up.
A device of the above-mentioned type has been disclosed by DE 39 15 409 A1. This device has considerable advantages as far as the adjustability of the perforated plates and the cutting blades are concerned. As a result, the quality of the cutting-up method is substantially improved.
The object of the present invention is to improve the degree of cutting up and the degree of emulsification of the device and to facilitate the assembly.
The foregoing is achieved by at least one further cutting set being arranged between the two perforated plates, in which the perforated plate is supported relative to the adjacent perforated plates via distance rings, and at least one distance ring bears against an annular shoulder in the regulating body.
In this case, provision is thus made for the distance rings to be supported against annular shoulders in the regulating body. This means that the distance rings are clamped between these annular shoulders and the clamping rings.
As a result, the assembly of the entire cutting-up region is facilitated.
Furthermore, at least some of the perforated plates are clamped between the distance rings and separate clamping rings. As a result, the securing of the perforated plates can be improved, so that there is no risk of the perforated plates rotating along with the cutting heads.
Due to the use of at least three perforated plates and corresponding cutting heads, the input product can be coarser without influencing the output product. With the same input product, the output product is emulsified in a finer and better manner compared with a two-plate device.
If four or even more plates are used one after the other, the output product can again be improved.
Apart from that, the perforated plates are preferably held against the annular stops from the same side, these annular stops being formed at a predetermined distance apart inside the regulating body.
The present invention also comprises a method of operating an above-mentioned device. It is essential in this case that the gap between perforated plate and cutting head is enlarged (waiting position) when the drive for the cutting head is switched off or is reduced (working position) when the drive starts.
As mentioned above, the cutting head is located on the main motor shaft and is secured there. If the product to be cut up is located in the housing and the cutting head rotates, it presses the product through the perforated plate while cutting it at the same time. In the process, high forces act on the cutting head and thus also on the shaft. These forces cause the shaft to be pushed back.
When the main motor is switched off, the forces emanating from the product to be cut up also decrease and the main motor shaft moves in the opposite direction. This means that the cutting blades and cutting heads are subjected to unnecessary wear every time the machine is switched on and off. For this reason, provision is made for the position of the cutting heads when the main motor is stopped, namely the waiting position, to be different from the working position, when the main motor is running. In the waiting position, the cutting blades maintain a greater distance from the perforated plate than in the working positionxe2x80x94shearing position.